Junkyard Kitten Brings Joy to Tampa Family

You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family. Well, that's not exactly the truth, and no one's happier about that than Pistol the cute, grey fur ball cat.

Here is a picture of Pistol when he was first brought home.

In early September of 2012, Pistol was just another feral, junkyard kitten living in the shadows of Tampa. It looked like his life was destined to be rough and tumble, and things soon became worse when he was left for dead in the middle of a busy Tampa highway. Luckily, one local Tampa family spotted the cat.

The family's daughter, Kristen Clanton, says, "My dad and brother were driving home from a portable job, and my dad noticed something in the middle of a busy road: it was a tiny kitten, maybe a week old. The kitten's arm was smashed to bits and his blood was dried, but he was still alive and in shock. My brother held the kitten, and he was bawling because he was so upset that people were just driving by."

After picking up the cat, Hubert and Nick Clanton immediately drove the cat to the veterinary hospital. When they showed the vets the cat, they were told that there was no way the cat would live. Leaving that day was a tough experience, Hubert Clanton says, "I felt horrible. It was just a tiny kitten, and to watch him die, it was rough."

However, just three weeks after dropping the cat off, the Clantons got a surprise call from the veterinarian. It turned out that the grey cat survived the entire ordeal, and even picked up a name in the process; "Everyone in the vet's office had named him Pistol because he is such a fighter and even though he can only use three legs, he's so quick."

Soon, Pistol was home with his new family, just in time for the holidays. But, it wasn't without some growing pains. The street, junkyard cat ended up giving a few members of the family ringworm, but they weren't about to give up on him that easy: he was family. After a few more trips to the vet, Pistol was completely healthy and had never been so happy to be with his new family.

Instead of a life destined for cardboard boxes and cold nights, Pistol now lives with the Clantons in a house that has 6 other cats, 6 dogs, plenty of cat supplies, a wonderland of a back yard, and a family that loves him. Some may even say that he didn't even have to die to make it to heaven.